TOP List
Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited is an industrial enzyme manufacturer and caters to a worldwide market like Europe, America, China and India. The company specializes in providing customized, eco-safe solutions across various industries. The key areas that Advanced Enzymes focus on are human healthcare, animal healthcare, textiles, leather and grain processing. Being an R&D focused company; Advanced Enzyme Technologies has several patents and novel applications to its credit. AETL clocked biotech revenue of Rs 88.60 crore for fiscal 2008-09 as against Rs 69.30 crore in 2007-08, registering 42 percent growth. About 50-60 percent of the company’s export caters the needs of the US market. The company also spends around 10-12 percent of their total turnover on R&D. Advanced Enzyme Technologies is expecting a stable growth in the current fiscal with exports growing, especially in the area of bulk enzymes.
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) recorded total biotech sales of Rs 83.48 crore in 2008-09 as against Rs 80.40 crore in 2007-08. Vaccine has been a key growth area for GSK in the Indian market. GlaxoSmithKline in India is an affiliate of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, headquartered in Rixensart, Belgium. Belgium is the center of all GlaxoSmithKline’s activities in the field of vaccine research, development and production. GSK’s India product portfolio includes prescription medicines and vaccines. GSK also offers a range of vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, invasive disease caused by H, influenzae, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus etc. As of now, GSK markets 12 types of vaccines in the Indian market. GSK has two manufacturing units in India, located at Nashik and Thane as well as a clinical development center in Bangalore.
Vimta Labs is a contract research and testing organization that has a track record of serving several market leaders across the globe. Vimta has a team of 621 professionals comprising 466 scientists in various disciplines such as chemistry, pharma, medicine, microbiology, molecular biology and informatics. The team is slated to double in next three years. Vimta is a multi-site organization with more than 300,000 sq.ft. world class laboratory facilities. The company recorded a total business revenue of Rs 81.60 crore posting 6 percent growth over that in 2007-08.
Ankur seeds clocked revenue of Rs 80.35 crore in Bt cotton seed sales for fiscal year of 2008-09 as against Rs 75 crore in 2007-08. The company has released new cotton hybrids like Bollgard II during the fiscal year of 2008-09, other hybrids like Ankur Jai BG II and Ankur 3028 BG II were released for northern, central and southern India. Ankur Seeds got permission from the regulators to import the transgenic cotton seed material containing drought tolerance genes. The company had funded an American University for developing these transgenic lines. Ankur Seeds has successfully developed cytoplasmic genetic male sterility that will have long term benefits in brinjal hybrid seed production technology. The company is planning to enter the regulatory trials of Bt brinjal that were developed at its facilities using proprietary gene construct.
For the past four decades, Wockhardt’s forte has been its pharmaceutical and biotechnology business which is backed by research-oriented technology. Wockhardt’s pioneering efforts in biotechnology led to the launch of three successful products in the Indian market: Biovac-B (hepatitis B vaccine), Wepox (erythropoietin), and Wosulin (recombinant insulin). The company has also made a breakthrough by launching a novel long-acting insulin, Glargine. Wockhardt is prepared to tap biogenerics opportunity, which is powered by its vision to introduce one biopharmaceutical product every year. Wockhardt is a listed entity altogether with its R&D locations in Wockhardt, Aurangabad and Mumbai; Negma Laboratories, France; Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, Illinois, USA; Wockhardt, UK and Pinewood, Ireland.
Krishidhan Seeds Limited clocked a total turnover of Rs 63.25 crore in FY 2008-09 as compared to Rs 40 crore in 2007-08 from Bt cotton. Krishidhan’s R&D spend is about six percent of its total sales covering both the basic and applied research in agribiotechnology. Although the company decided to enter into GM crops in 2001, it was able to launch its products in 2006 due to delay in regulatory approvals and procedures. Krishidhan Seeds is using the Monsanto technology and was one of the three companies to launch Bollgard II, which was more effective than Bollgard I, in 2006-07. Krishidhan is also in the process of looking at other technologies that would control bollworm complex and other pests. At present it is mainly focusing on promoting Bollgard II technology with desired tolerance to sucking pest complex in its elite hybrid.
Genesis of the company goes back to the time when Dr Pradip K Desai present chairman conceived the idea of a a start-up company in 1972, as the Desai Laboratories. The main goal of Span Diagnostics was to indigenously develop and manufacture a comprehensive range of ready-made diagnostic reagents needed by clinical pathology laboratories. Span Diagnostics is giving emphasis to in-house R&D to develop more and more products, keeping the customer needs in mind and quality under constant vigil. The initial efforts yielded success and Span became a private limited company in 1981.The company then went public in 1994, to bring in more resources and expand further. Today, Span has a wide range of quality products and dedicated services and the products are manufactured at its state-of-the-art plants in India and France, strictly following WHO-cGMP norms.
Nath Biogene offers scores of new crop varieties, hybrid seeds, growth supplements and related services to farmers from all over the country. Nath Biogene’s products and services have changed the demand dynamics in the country. The company made substantial investments to upgrade R&D activities to international standards. Reaching the Indian farmers with rigorously tested seed-embedded technologies for genetic enhancement is the prime goal of Nath Biogene. The company forges linkages with some of the best-known institutions within the country and abroad to enhance the research activities. Collaboration with the prestigious Biotechnology Research Institute of Chinese of Academy of Agricultural Sciences is one among them.
Serum International, a subsidiary of the Serum Group, has clocked revenue of Rs 46 crore for fiscal year 2008-09. Serum Institute of India sets up Serum International Ltd to market research-based products from Serono, world leaders in fertility products. The Pune-based subsidiary of India’s largest manufacturer of vaccines has many acheivements to its credit. Serum International’s most talked about milestone was the launch of Pygeum Africanum soft gelatin capsule, Pyginal, for benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH). BPH is an age-related prostate gland problem occurring in males after the age of 40. BPH occurs because of enlargement of the prostate gland which is an important organ of the male reproductive system.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has clocked revenues of Rs 40 crore for the fiscal year 2008-09 as against Rs 34 crore in 2007-08. The company hopes that its key brand Reditux will be the first in a series of biosimilar products that will revolutionize the affordability of these products for patients in India. Dr Reddy’s has shifted its focus to the development of biosimilars, while its long term vision is to develop new biological entities (NBEs) in niche therapeutic areas. In biologics, Dr Reddy’s offers two products, Reditux and Grafeel. Otherwise, in total the company is offering 14 anti-cancer drugs, which are not biotech products. Dr Reddy’s is the second largest player in oncology in India after Roche. The biotech products of Dr Reddy’s are not only focused on oncology and monoclonal antibodies but also in nephrology and autoimmune diseases.
Indovax is engaged in the production of quality poultry biologicals since 1991. The company’s research is focused on product development for Indian (tropical) conditions. The company manufactures viral vaccines, inactivated vaccines and bacterins by using SPF eggs and the best quality raw material, sourced from renowned international suppliers. The company enjoys over 40 percent market share in Gumboro vaccine segment that was launched in the 1990s. Indovax’s Hydropericardium syndrome vaccine and Fowl cholera vaccine have a similar success story. Last year, Indovax entered into a joint venture with a large European company to produce products critical to a number of biomedical and veterinary procedures, including production of diagnostic kits, reagents, disease diagnosis, biomedical research, and the production of some mammalian, human and avian vaccines.
Wyeth Limited is a subsidiary of the US-based pharmaceutical company, Wyeth. The company clocked estimated revenues of Rs 35 crore (purely from its vaccine business) with its blockbuster vaccine, Prevnar (launched in 2006 in India) having a good amount of the share. Wyeth Limited has a strong presence in oral contraceptives, folic acid and depilatory cream also. It was the first company to launch hormone therapy. In the field of vaccines, Wyeth introduced vaccines against HIB and invasive pneumococcal disease in the country. Enbrel, a breakthrough treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and Rapamune, an immunosuppressant for prevention of rejection after renal transplant, Prevenar, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and Tygacil, the world’s first glycilcycline antibiotic, are among internationally known products launched by Wyeth Limited in India. The company has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Verna, Goa.
Despite the economic slowdown hitting the country, Aventis Pharma’s exports saw a double digit growth and showed a growth performance of 23 percent. The company’s expenditure on R&D grows up to 0.51 percent and it employs 2,070 people. The company launched a new prefilled disposable insulin pen, SoloSTAR for use with the 24-hour insulin Lantus. Lantus had shown a growth rate of 30 percent and was also won the prestigious OPPI Marketing Excellence Award. This disposable insulin pen is to be used for the treatment of hyperglycemia in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Aventis has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at Goa and Ankleshwar, where a number of pharmaceutical ingredients and formulations are produced. Both the sites comply with prevailing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) standards and score highly in terms of performance.
Strand Life Sciences is a premier life science informatics innovation company founded by Dr Vijay Chandru, an academician turned entrepreneur. Strand leverages its core strengths and intellectual property in data mining, predictive modeling, bioinformatics, and computational chemistry to develop products and solutions for drug discovery. Strand Life Sciences is developing a new software solution for the analysis of data from Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) experiments. This new solution incorporates algorithms optimized to process NGS data while focusing on integration with downstream biological analysis. The solution will support most of the applications being performed on NGS platforms. Strand is a member of the bioinformatics software partnership program established by Illumina Inc. to promote data integration and advanced analysis of data from various Illumina products including NGS data.
Lambda Therapeutics works on all aspects of clinical drug development including clinical trials, clinical laboratory, data management, and bioavailability studies. with its head office in Ahmedabad and branches at Mumbai and Chennai; Warsaw, Poland and USA. It has an employee strength of more than 500 members. Past records of the company include having 1,000 BA/BE studies, 20 phase-I studies and 35 phase-II and phase-III clinical trials. In 2008, Lambda Bioanalytical Facility got a GLP certification from Thailand FDA. Lambda has acquired a pharmacovigilance CRO in the UK and a Polish CRO firm, CBK-MPR Pharma. The clinical lab of Lambda also received a CAP accreditation and was accredited by the most prestigious body College of American Pathologists on May 4, 2005. Lambda is one of the five clinical labs in India and the first one in Gujarat to have CAP accreditation. Rank 21-50 Companies 
Hester Biosciences Limited is a veterinary vaccines manufacturing company, which has ISO 9001-2000 and GMP certifications. The product range includes 11 types of live and 28 types of inactivated poultry vaccines. Propagation of micro-organisms for manufacturing of the vaccines is done through tissue culture, through specific pathogen free embryos and through fermentation processes. Having achieved a turnover of Rs 32.60 crore in 2007-08, Hester claims to have the second largest market share for poultry vaccines in India. Hester imports one vaccine from the US. It also exports some of its vaccines to three countries and registration are pending in over 10 countries. Besides marketing its own vaccines, Hester represents other companies like Merial USA for poultry vaccines; Biopharm, Czech Republic, for poultry vaccines; Synbiotics, USA, for animal diagnostic kits for the Indian market.
Cadila Pharmaceuticals (CPL) is a key research-based, tech-savvy pharmaceutical company focusing on areas like formulations, new drug discovery, active pharmaceutical ingredients, analytical research, phytochemistry, biotechnology, plant tissue culture, biosynthesis, genetic engineering, vaccines and immunoglobulins. Over the last few years, CPL has established a strong R&D base in biotechnology and developed working relations with key R&D institutes in the country. CPL has its own research facility at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. About 20 products including conventional and recombinant vaccines, anti-cancer biotherapeutics, diagnostics using recombinant antigens and natural thrombolites with high market potential are in its biotechnology basket. Cadila has developed Immuvac, a potent immunomodulator for the first time in the world. Sodium Hyaluronate, is another biotech product developed on the basis of technology obtained from Center for Biochemical Technology, Delhi.
JK Agri Genetics Ltd (JKAL) was established in 1989 with its headquarters at Hyderabad. The biotechnology division of the company is engaged in R&D, production, processing and marketing of hybrid seeds of sorghum, pearl millet, maize, cotton, rice, sunflower, tomato, okra and hot pepper.
JKAL has invested extensively in biotechnology programs and has collaborations with several national and international research institutions and agricultural universities to harness biotechnology for crop improvement. The company has developed a range of superior hybrids with Bt gene and other novel genes that fulfills farmers’ aspirations. A team of 15 scientists are currently working on the application of DNA markers such as RFLP, AFLP, SSR and ISSR, agrobacterium and biolistic mediated transformation technology in various crops using novel genes and application of in-vitro culture.
Maps India is a producer and exporter of industrial enzymes. With over 150 employees, sophisticated production plant and a dedicated R&D center, Maps India has become a key player in enzymes and microorganisms. A team of 30 scientists is involved in R&D activities at Maps India. Maps produces a broad range of enzymes and microorganisms that include amylases, proteases, cellulases, xylanase, glucoamylase, pectinase, catalase and phytase, which are used for industrial purposes. With a complex product portfolio of over 60 products, a sales network that covers 20 countries and products for more than 10 different industries, Maps provides biotech solutions to improve industrial performance and quality. Maps is investing Rs 10 crore in Gujarat to expand its expansion.
Suven Life Sciences is a collaborative research partner (CRP) in drug discovery for global pharma companies since 2006. The company is also focusing on contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) since 1995 and drug discovery and development support services (DDDSS) since 2005. Suven is engaged in discovering new chemical entities in central nervous system (CNS) therapeutic areas including Alzheimer’s, cognitive impairment, dementia, depression, Parkinson’s disease and obesity which are at various phases of preclinical and clinical development. The company has recently undergone US FDA inspection at their intermediate/active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility in Suryapet, Andhra Pradesh. The company’s revenues from DDDSS stood at Rs 21.03 crore.
Varda Biotech is a technology and knowledge-based enterprise, offering integrated services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It engages in high-end collaboration for the products and services that enhance the capability and productivity performances of its customers and business associates. Varda offers an ultra pure and highly thermostable recombinant Taq DNA Polymerase that has been isolated from recombinant E.coli. Varda provides custom service for clients requiring custom made peptides for research use, which are of either linear sequence or modified ones. Varda has received the ISO 9001:2000 certificate. It has the technical expertise to produce and deliver quality antibodies for life science research community. The company has launched educational biotechnology kits under the brand name Bio-Knowledge Kit and has alliance with global players for product association and representation in India too.
Celestial Labs has been supporting pharma, bio-pharma and biotech manufacturing with customized IT solutions and contract research. The company is also involved in R&D, commercial production and marketing of enzymes and nutraceuticals. Celestial Labs is setting up a biotechnology facility at Genome Valley in Hyderabad to manufacture its own drug molecules, industrial enzymes and contract research activities. The business plan of Celestial Labs is essentially based on the production and supply of the biotechnological products which have very significant industrial implications, especially in both pharma and biopharmaceutical sectors. Celestial Labs has been engaged in production of custom peptides for last five years. The acquisition of Bioconcept, an advanced facility for automated equipment, has establishing itself as a reliable source of contract research services on custom peptide synthesis.
Shreya Group started its operation in Moscow, Russia, where Shreya Corporation, the parent company, was established in 1995. Once a one-man trading company, Shreya is a marketing and distribution company in Russia. Shreya Group has interests in both pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products in key therapeutic segments. Shreya Life Sciences, the Indian arm of Shreya Group, started its operations in India in 2001 by acquiring Rallis India Ltd, a TATA Group company. In 2003, Shreya acquired the domestic pharma business of Plethico Pharmaceuticals Ltd, with a view to achieve a full-fledged national presence. Some of the products in human insulin introduced by Shreya in India include, Recosulin-M30 40 I.U, Recosulin-M30 100 I.U, Recosulin-M50 100 I.U,Recosulin-M50 40 I.U, Recosulin-N 100 I.U, Recosulin-N 40 I.U, Recosulin-R 100 I.U and Recosulin-R 40 I.U.
Zytex (India) Pvt Ltd is engaged in marketing of a broad range of biotechnological products. Zytex believes that the product research should be backed by application development. Hence it set up an application lab in 1997 to support the customers and also to develop products from the bench scale to the customer rapidly. Based on research conducted at its center, Zytex is now in the process of setting up a new production facility for a range of therapeutic enzymes and proteins. Its research laboratory is well equipped and manned with qualified professionals. Zytex has also set up an ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturing unit. Zytex markets a broad range of biotechnological products that are unique and are specifically demanded by customers. Zytex has strong distribution network in India and also in Asia/South East Asia.
Bhat Bio-tech India specializes in the design development, manufacture and marketing of diagnostic devices for tests like pregnancy, HIV, hepatitis, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, syphlis, TB, cardiac markers, dry chemistry, biochemistry, hematology, immunology and ELISA test used in the analysis of body fluids in human. The company has registered revenue of Rs 12.10 crore in FY09. Bhat Bio-tech has recently got the technology transfer from Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE) for manufacturing rapid test for toxin (ricin). This is an immunochromatography-based test which will detect the ricin as low as 50ng/ml in the sample. The company has launched the rapid test for the detection of IgM antibodies for chikungunya virus in human serum or plasma and also launched the AIDSCAN HIV-1/2 Trispot Test based on immunoconcentration principle and uses human serum or plasma and identifies HIV-1 and HIV-2 separately.
Multiplex Biotech has clocked revenues of Rs 12 crore in fiscal year 2008-09 as against Rs 15 crore in 2007-08. The increased revenue in 2007-08 was a result of a bulk order placement from Andaman and Nicobar which contributed about Rs 5 crore in the last fiscal. Multiplex is promoted by Dr GP Shetty, an entrepreneur having vast experience in the field of manufacturing and marketing of agricultural products such as multimicronutrient fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, insecticides etc. The company has an unit at Nelamangala which is manufacturing wide range of agro-based biotech products which are used for the growth, development and to get more yields in field crops, fruit crops, plantation crops, horticultural crops etc.
ABL Biotechnologies Limited (ABL), based in Chennai, is a pioneer in harnessing the biodiversity of the Indian marine environment. ABL has been working on identification and commercial extraction of bio-chemicals, predominantly from microbes, that have far reaching applications as nutritional, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and industrial intermediates. The microbial metabolites Laboratory at Chennai works on evaluating new sources of biochemicals from marine organisms. ABL has been conducting research on polysaccharides, essential fatty acids, natural pigments, tracers and tags with considerable success. Present focus includes work on pharmaceuticals like anti-bacterials and anti-virals, enzymes, bio-molecular materials, bio-monitors and diagnostics, bio-pesticides, bioremediation and aquaculture. ABL’s efforts are focused on the enormous potential of Indian biodiversity for the production of new tools to both fight as well as prevent disease.
Metahelix Life Sciences is an agricultural biotechnology company focused on developing traits and technologies for crop protection and improved productivity. Metahelix markets hybrid seeds by its wholly-owned subsidiary seeds business, Dhaanya Seeds. Metahelix has developed two versions of Bt cotton and a Bt rice hybrid that controls rice yellow stem borer (YSB) using the Bt based Cry1Ac gene. The company’s biotechnology capability includes all the aspects of gene mining, development, molecular biology, crop transformation, phenotyping, assaying and trait development. The company’s research initiatives include developing hybrid seeds of rice, maize, cotton (Bt), millet, sunflower, sorghum, tomato, okra, hot pepper, melons. and research and development of biotech traits like insect protection, virus protection and fungal disease protection. The company currently employs 230 people and plans to hire another 40 by next year.
Zenotech Laboratories is a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company which develops new biological entities in the areas of cancer and neurology. The company has initiated target identification and validation programs using gene and protein based technologies. This brings together proprietary technologies in the identification of cell surface proteins and receptors as candidate drug targets. Zenotech also develops and manufactures generic biopharmaceuticals and also offers comprehensive services for generating and characterizing recombinant proteins. The company provides a full range of services from cloning a gene, expression in microbial or mammalian systems, process development and generation of milligram to gram quantities of pure recombinant proteins. The company also offers functional, validated assays in both cell-based and cell-free formats for use in drug discovery.
Excel Industries Ltd primarily manufactures chemicals for industrial and agricultural needs. The business divisions of Excel include agri, chemical, and environment and biotech. The environment and biotech division has developed biodynamic products and processes for tackling environment and biotech problems. Excel’s activities include sanitization, bioconversion, bioremediation and bioaugmentation. The environment and biotech division has two product categories namely agricultural biotech products and environment biotech products. The agricultural biotech products make extensive use of naturally occurring microbes such as bacteria and fungi. The products are broadly classified under the categories of soil enrichers and biopesticides, and the division makes extensive use of naturally occurring microbes that helps in the aerobic decomposition of organic matter in its various forms such as agricultural and food waste, animal waste that includes fats and proteins. – See more at: http://www.biospectrumindia.com/biospecindia/news/156061/rank-21-companies#sthash.j2yeHGTq.dpuf
